DROUGHT—DRY FARMING 
grower than the lack of rain when need- 
ed. Any method of treatment, therefore, 
which will enable us to mitigate this 
effect, even in a small degree, is well 
worthy of our most careful attention. 
How then shall we treat our orchards in 
order to retain for the use of the trees 
the greatest possible proportion of the 
rain which falls upon and among them? 
It is simply a question of evaporation, 
and whatever prevents the evaporation of 
water from the soil is a benefit to the 
tree and an aid to fruit production. The 
means of preventing evaporation which 
naturally suggests itself first is some 
kind of a mulch to cover up the soil pro- 
tecting it from sun and wind, and thus 
keep it from drying out. But how are we 
to secure such a mulch? To cover the 
ground with straw or any other coarse 
material to a sufficient depth to properly 
protect it is a tremendous job and very 
expensive, when we come to consider both 
the value of the material and labor of ap- 
plying it. Moreover, there is a disad- 
vantage in a mulch of that kind, in that 
it induces the roots to run near the sur- 
face, thus limiting the area from which 
they can obtain their fertility and render- 
ing them unusually subject to injury from 
drought in the future should the mulch 
at any time become deficient. Strange 
it is how many of our lessons we need 
to learn through the teaching of what 
seems a misfortune. We mulch our corn 
fields, not so much because we want to, 
as because we have to. Why? Because 
Dame Nature has filled the soil with 
a multitude of weed seeds which spring 
up and grow so vigorously that they 
practically choke down the corn unless 
we destroy them. To rid the ground of 
these weeds we must cultivate, and in 
doing this we leave a layer of loose mel- 
low soil on top of the ground, which 
is really the most satisfactory mulch we 
can get. It needs to be often renewed 
to be sure, for every shower packs it 
down so that to a certain extent it loses 
its value as a mulch. It is only when it 
remains light and mellow that it serves 
this office as it should. 
Here then is the key to the solution 
of the problem, namely, frequent sur- 
911 
face cultivation at least every ten days 
or two weeks throughout the season. In 
some experiments reported by Professor 
Roberts, of Cornell University, the daily 
evaporation from soil in a warm room, 
but not in the sun, was found to be at 
the rate of from one to two tons of 
water per acre less from portions stir- 
red to a depth of one and one-half inches 
every day than from that not stirred. 
The difference varied greatly with the 
. ‘7 * * & 
kind of soil. Frep W. Carp, 
Nebraska Agricultural Experiment Station 
Dry Farming 
We have a good deal of literature pub- 
lished now on the subject of dry farm- 
ing. Really there is no such thing as 
dry farming, for no vegetation will grow 
without moisture. The terms are com- 
parative. In all of the so-called dry 
farming districts there is more or less 
of moisture, generally about 15 to 20 
inches of rainfall per annum. The 
question is, how to conserve this moist- 
ure so as to profitably grow crops, espe- 
cially those crops that are necessary to 
support a farming population with a 
fair percentage of merchants, mechanics 
and the classes that depend upon the 
farming population for a living. In so 
far as our interest in the subject is con- 
cerned, the question is, how to grow 
fruit. We are not treating the general 
subject of agriculture, we are treating 
the specific subject. 
There are a great many places in the 
United States, where by proper cultiva- 
tion and by the proper selection of 
trees that will grow fruit with the least 
possible amount of water, the farmer 
could have at least a home orchard, or 
in some instances might produce com- 
mercial fruits. The almond requires 
very little water; certain varieties of 
peaches and plums will grow on com- 
paratively arid soil. We have seen 
plums growing wild in some arid dis- 
tricts where there was not more than 
20 inches of rainfall per annum. Then 
among the apples perhaps the Wagener 
and the Grimes Golden will grow suc- 
cessfully with less water than most 
other varieties. 
